Cousins
by tamara72
Summary: Six years after the war, Draco meets his cousin Teddy while visiting his Aunt with his mother and fiance. Third in my Next Generation series.


The characters of the Harry Potter universe belong to Ms. Rowlings, and I'm borrowing them for my own imagination.

_I love how Black Alnair portrays Astoria and used her idea of her in my fiction. _

Cousins

"I will be fine, go on and help your mother and Aunt." Astoria told Draco as she sat in Andromeda's living room couch.

Draco nodded and followed his Aunt and mother to the kitchen. He knew that since the war his mother had been visiting with her sister at least monthly, and he recently learned they had kept a hidden communication going back and forth for years. But this was the first time he had come, though his mother said they had met once shortly after he was born.

He had learned a great deal about his mother and her past in the years since the war had ended. His family had ordered to attend counseling as part of their rehabilitation. He had learned that after Andromeda had left the Black family, their father in his anger started abusing his youngest daughter drilling the Black family values into her. He even resulted in sexually abusing her anytime she did anything that he considered a weakness.

He understood why she was so protective of himself and his father. His aunt had even attended some or the sessions and together they were working through his mother anger and fear and Andromeda's guilt for believing the worst of Narcissa when she had come to her for help.

"When are you and Astoria to be married?" His aunt asked him taking out of his thoughts.

"Next month." Draco responded.

"It will be a very small ceremony. It is being held at our home with only Astoria's parents and sister, Lucius and myself attending. Blaise Zabini is standing up for Draco, is Daphne standing up for Tori?" Narcissa asked of Draco.

"No, Blaise's wife Tracy said she would. We're not even sure if her family will be attending. Face it, Mum. It may just be you and four empty chairs." Draco responded.

"Nonsense, your father will be there." His mother stated, and he knew she meant it. "The Greengrasses and Lucius wanted Draco to marry Daphne, but Draco chose to marry for love. I am very proud of him for that." Narcissa explained. Draco knew that his mother really liked Astoria, and he was very pleased that she approved of his choice. Although his mother had married someone her family approved of, she also loved her husband very much.

"Doesn't Astoria have any close friends that she would like to have stand up for her?" His aunt asked.

"She wasn't very well liked in her house at school. She was a pure blood Ravenclaw, the first non-Slytherin in her family. My house didn't trust her and of course the other house didn't trust some whom they thought could or even should have been a Slytherin." Draco responded. His aunt nodded her head sympathetically.

"Draco, can you get the green and blue tray that is up in the top cupboard?" His aunt requested.

Six-year-old Teddy Lupin awoke from his nap hearing strange voices in the house. As he moved to look for his grandmother, he saw a very pretty lady sitting on the living room couch.

"Hello. You must be Teddy." The pretty girl said to him.

"Where's Gram?" He asked.

"She's in the kitchen with your Aunt Narcissa and Cousin Draco." The pretty girl responded.

"Aunt Cissy's here?"

"Yes, she confided in me that if I gave you this then you would like me." She responded opening her hand. He saw it contained a chocolate frog. Teddy's eyes lit up.

"I'm Astoria. I'm engaged to your Cousin Draco." The pretty lady said as he moved to her.

"Hi. I'm Teddy Remus Lupin." Teddy held out his hand like he had seen Harry do to people he had met.

Astoria took it then handed him the frog. "You should probably save it until your grandmother says it is okay to eat it. I don't want to get you or me in trouble."

Teddy nodded and set it on the end table. "Thank you. Do you want to play Quidditch with me?" He asked.

"Don't we need a lot of people to play Quidditch?" She asked.

"No, this is the toy game, not the real one." Teddy responded as if she said something silly.

"Okay, I would like that." She responded.

"Okay, I will get it. We can sit there on the floor." Teddy said pointing as he ran out of the room.

Draco moved to the entry way to check on Astoria and was surprised she wasn't on the couch. He glanced around the room and saw that she was sitting on the floor playing with a little brunette boy.

"You're gonna have to practice a lot before you have a kid." The little boy was informing Astoria.

"I might have to get Draco to buy me the game and he can practice with me. Or I can come and visit you again and you can teach me more." Astoria said to the little boy.

"Yeah!" Teddy said then glanced over at the door spotting Draco there. "Are you Draco?"

"Yes." Draco said.

"Come over and join us." Astoria said turning her head and patting the spot next to her.

Draco turned to glance at his mother and aunt, who were sitting talking quietly at the kitchen table while they waited for the tea to be done, then he moved into the room and took a seat on the floor next to her.

"You're getting married, right?" Teddy asked.

"Yes." Draco responded.

"Do you kiss all the time like Harry and Ginny or are you more des . . . des . . . descit like Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione?" Teddy asked.

"Discrete, definitely we are more discrete." Astoria said with a smile. Draco couldn't help but smile at her.

"I'm discrit too." Teddy said.

"You are?" Draco said with a smirk on his face.

"Uh huh. I kissed a girl, but we are keeping it a secret." Teddy informed them.

"Are you planning on marrying her?" Astoria asked.

Teddy shrugged. "Vic's a good mate, and she's pretty. We saw the grown ups doing it all the time last Christmas. Luna said it was the Nargles in the mistletoe, so we got some mistletoe and kissed." Teddy said.

"Did you like it?" Astoria asked. Draco could tell she was enchanted by the little boy. Astoria loved children and wanted several.

"It was wet." Teddy said.

"When you are older, it won't be as wet." Draco stated.

Teddy nodded as if this was important information to know. "I have a picture of Vic." Teddy said pulling a crumpled paper out of his pocket. He tried to smooth it out for Draco and Astoria to see.

"This is Vic and me on my birthday." Teddy told them.

"She is very pretty. You have good taste." Astoria said and Teddy beamed.

"So you're my cousin?" Teddy asked Draco.

"Um, yeah." Draco said. "You are the only cousin I have."

"When you have a baby, will it be my cousin, too?"

"Yes, then you will have two cousins, and Draco will still have only one." Astoria responded.

"Vic has lots of cousins. She has her sister Dominique. Then there is her cousins Molly and Lucy, they are Uncle Percy's daughters, and Freddie and Roxie, they are Uncle George's twins, and Jamie, he's Harry and Ginny's baby. Jamie is my god brother." Teddy informed them. "Uncle Ron doesn't have a baby, but Ginny says they want one so they are working hard at it. Ginny also says Uncle Charlie will never have a baby. Not unless he can mate with a dragon." Teddy said and both Draco and Astoria burst out laughing.

"Teddy!" His grandmother said shocked.

"What? You said I couldn't repeat things Ron and George say, not Ginny." Teddy informed her.

"I thought you learned all of your bad language and inappropriate comments from Ron and George. Apparently, I owe them an apology, since it seems Ginny is to blame as well." His grandmother said.

"Harry says that Ginny has a mouth on her." Teddy said.

"Teddy!" His grandmother said as the others laughed.

"Tea is served." Cissy said.

"Okay, I'll need a little help up." Astoria said.

"How did you get down here?" Draco asked.

"That was easy. I wind up on the floor a lot." She replied as he got to the side and helped her to her feet, then keeping an arm on her elbow helped her slowly back to the couch.

"Tori has a neat device on her legs." Teddy told his grandmother. "Her legs are bad, and so it helps her to walk."

"That sounds neat." Andromeda responded as she watched her nephew, who had made such bad choices in his young life, shower his fiancé with affection and his caring attention. She remembered something her sister had told her weeks earlier. "Astoria Greengrass has saved my son from Lucius expectations and himself. It is one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen."

For Andromeda seeing was believing. She wonders if Harry will believe what she has seen. She'll ask him the next time she sees him, after she talks to him about his wife's mouth.

The End


End file.
